introduction: p in soils exists in many complex chemical forms, which differ markedly in their behavior, mobility and resistance to bioavailability in the soils. the total p content of a soil provides little information regarding the behavior of p in the environment. the various forms of p present to a large degree, determine the fate and transport of p in soils. fractionation schemes using dif...

Novel non-ionic hydrogels were synthesized by radical homopolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VP) or by radical copolymerization of VP with methylacrylate (MA). A macroinimer (MIM) was used as a crosslinker and initiator, as well. The percentage of mass swelling ratios (S(M)), the molecular weight between crosslinks (M(c)) and Young's modulus of the hydrogels were investigated. The hydroge...

DNA binding by bZIP-type coiled-coil proteins can be inhibited by dominant negative versions of the proteins in which the N-terminal basic region is replaced by an acidic extension. Photocontrol of bZIP function can be achieved by introducing intramolecular azobenzene-based crosslinkers into dominant negatives. We show that the largest degree of photocontrol is achieved when the crosslinker is ...

Poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels have a significant range of mechanical properties based on compositional and processing parameters. Biodegradable hydrogels based on Poly(vinyl alcohol) were prepared for controlled drug delivery of bovine serum albumin. These hydrogels were synthesized by a crosslinking technique using glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. Hydrogels containing drug were prepared by dir...

Actin-crosslinking proteins link F-actin into the bundles and networks that constitute the cytoskeleton. Dystrophin, beta-spectrin, alpha-actinin, ABP-120, ABP-280, and fimbrin share homologous actin-binding domains and comprise an actin crosslinker superfamily. We have identified a novel member of this superfamily (ACF7) using a degenerate primer-mediated PCR strategy that was optimized to res...

In this chapter, we outline protocols for assembling and characterizing peptide-gold nanoparticle conjugates. We describe two strategies for attaching peptides to gold nanoparticles. One involves the covalent coupling of cysteine-terminated peptides directly to a particle surface via a sulfur-gold bond. Alternatively, peptides are coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) via a bifunctional molecul...

We present a new methodology for optical cell picking in 3D culture environment, because biological cells often show phenotype alterations by the interactions with pericellular matrix in 3D culture. In this study, we encapsulated cells in photodegradable hydrogels by mixing cell-containing gelatin solution with crosslinker, NHS-PC-4armPEG. The minimum resolution of photodegradation was estimate...

A macroscopic compression test utilizing a simple custom-built instrument was employed to measure polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastic modulus. PDMS samples with varying crosslinking density were prepared with the elastomer base to the curing agent ratio ranging from 5 : 1 to 33 : 1. The PDMS network elastic modulus varied linearly with the amount of crosslinker, ranging from 0.57 MPa to 3.7 MPa...

This report presents a new and simple methodology for the synthesis of multicomponent peptide vaccines, named the peptide crosslinked micelles (PCMs). The PCMs are core shell micelles designed to deliver peptide antigens and immunostimulatory DNA to antigen-presenting cells (APCs). They are composed of immunostimulatory DNA, peptide antigen, and a thiopyridal derived poly(ethylene glycol)-polyl...